Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Pitch black poured into a snifter. Head didn't last too long but I was just happy to get this one. Smell has a nice oak smell and the Jack Daniels lingers subtly in the background. Also has some coffee notes as well. Taste is very smooth and has a great coffee like flavor with hints of oak. Very pleasant all around and while the beer comes in at 11% it doesn't show it much. Over all it's an amazing beer that's very well rounded and I'd love to have it again if it wasn't such a rare release. (495 characters)

A - Dark black with an average sized, foamy, bubbly, cafe brown head. Average retention leaving a thin, patchy lace.

S - Dark charred malt giving a slightly bittersweet chocolate aroma. Charred oaky aroma along with whisky and a touch of vainilla. A little bit of coffee but not much. A little sweet and a little hot.

T - A touch sweeter than the nose suggested. Mix of brownie and bittersweet chocolate. Vanilla along with touches of woody oak flavors. Hints of bitter coffee. A little hot but not bad given the amount of whisky flavor.

M - Medium to full body with low carbonation. Pretty smooth and creamy.

D - Fair amount of whisky flavor but not too hot or overpowering. Nice sweet dessert flavors without being cloying.

Notes: Would make a nice dessert beer. Some brownie chocolate along with vainilla. Whisky is present but not overpowering. Good barrel aged stout that is tasty and works well, but doesn't have anything that amazes me or jumps out. (961 characters)

Poured into a Chimay chalice at The Birch in Norfolk. Beautiful mocha head and rich smells of roasted malt and booze.

Predominate note is of espresso and cigar, tipped off with a booze note. Rich, dark chocolate notes linger in the back and bring everything together. Charred. It's a bit rough in terms of mouthfeel -- I was hoping for a bit more smoothness. Again, the booze (i.e., whiskey) plays a big role in the somewhat aggressive attack on the palate. That does mellow a bit as it warms.

I enjoyed it and would recommend trying it if you appreciate boozy imperial stouts. I have a feeling this would be great with a cigar! (631 characters)

33cl bottle, best by March 2013, Lot A (probably bottled around March of 2011). Served at cellar temperature.

Pours black with a two finger brown head that retains nicely and leaves good lacing.

Aroma features strong whiskey notes, charred oak, dark chocolate, vanilla, roasted malts, anise and some coffee. The Jack is the star and the overall strength is very good.

Flavor starts with chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, anise, some notes of caramel, toffee, molasses, and dark fruits, then the whiskey kicks in along with some oak, vanilla and a decent bit of warmth from the alcohol.

Mouthfeel is soft and creamy with a full body.

A very nice barrel-aged Imperial Stout. The whiskey brings a slightly different experience than in the more common bourbon barrel treatments. Expensive at $10/11.2oz bottle, but I don't regret picking it up at all. (852 characters)

Garnet-tinged black with a beige head. Vanilla, soil, dates and espresso oil on the nose. Carmelized sugar, woody bite, and a bit of coffee. Little roast and no hops on the finish. Medium to full, round, some chew.

Much subtler wood than some of the others in the White Label series. Doesn't have the barrel presence of the Eglin, for example. An muted stout overall, for an RIS. (382 characters)

Drinks hot on the throat, but not unbearable. The licorice in the aroma quickly turns to a sharp anise quality in the flavor. Plenty of bittersweet chocolate, and even some red bell pepper. Pretty thick & slick mouthfeel throughout.

Overall, I didn't pick up much of the Jack Daniels barrel, although I'm not intimately familiar with their whiskey. It has what you'd expect in an 11% BA RIS, so glad they went with a small bottle instead of 22 or 750ml. (724 characters)

A: The beer is jet black in color and poured with a finger high dense tan head that gradually died down, leaving some lacing on the surface and a thick ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass.S: There are light to moderately strong aromas of bourbon in the nose along with notes of coffee and roasted malts.T: Similar to the smell, bourbon flavors stand out in the taste, although these aren’t too strong and notes of bittersweet chocolate, coffee and roasted malts are still detectable.M: It feels medium- to full-bodied, very smooth and a bit creamy on the palate with a light to moderate amount of carbonation. The finish has a nice amount of warming from the alcohol while the aftertaste has some lingering dryness.O: This beer is surprisingly easy to drink considering its strength; the alcohol is well masked from the taste except for the flavors of bourbon. (875 characters)

T: Fairly strong Jack presence though not all encompassing as some whiskey barrel aged beers can be. Has a good balance between the barrel and the base beer. Dark chocolate with a hint of roast and licorice. Nice flavours.

M: Medium to full-bodied, a tad thin for me at times. Quite smooth and creamy.

O: The whiskey character is there and makes its presence felt. I like the flavours, this is a well made BA beer, but still on the pricey side even in its category. (664 characters)

Dark black with a ruby edge. Tan foamy head laces nicely. Bakers chocolate and vanilla bean in the nose. Rich almost too sweet chocolate taste with booze and bourbon around the edges. Dark cherry, woody tobacco and roasted vanilla. Creamy mouthfeel. Feels like the stout and barrel weren't together long enough. (352 characters)

Pours a thin pitch black with almost zero carbonation. Smells mostly of TN Whiskey with plenty of dark fruit notes adding to the aroma. First sip is quite dominated by whiskey barrels and that is just fine by me. Dark fruits contribute with most of the toasted malts being masked by the whiskey. The big flaw by far is the lack of carbonation. It is very thin bodied to begin with so that flaw is magnified immensely. The 11% ABV is well hidden. (445 characters)

Thanks to kkipple for this interesting beer, no idea how he got it. Best before end of March 2013 so just past it's prime supposedly.

Pours a dark mocha colored creamy rich almost 1 finger head that fades pretty slowly and leaves lots of rich lacing and legs on the glass, no light getting through the pitch black beer.

Nose is pretty nice, dark malts, bit of cocoa, slight dark chocolate, I think some creamy oats, but also a bit of roasted malt with a hint of acrid char almost, some coffee, and lots more very dark malt aromas that probably would have been overbearing when it was fresh. Then nice vanilla barrel notes, with a hint of whisky with a slight bourbon tone, a bit of booze. The baker's chocolate comes through more as it warms, as well as the vanilla barrel aromas.

Taste starts with more of the roasted malts, a slight burnt coffee, light acrid character, more char, and tons of dark malts, but again not overbearing anymore which it seems like it may have been fresh. It does have a slight metallic sour like note to it though. Then dark chocolate, bitter baker's choc, and a big tannic bitter note from the char, and possible earthy hop character. Then into barrel notes, not as much as the nose had, a hint of a vanilla character, just a bit of oak, although there is some generic whisky notes to it. The burnt coffee seems to come through again fairly strong, with some toasted oats I think, as well as some warming slightly tingly booze. Finish is sticky a bit syrupy sweet, with mouth coating dark malts, some warming booze and slightly tingly, with lots more acrid roasted malt and hint of soy sauce like, as well as touch of bitter roast and earthy hop character lingering with the roasty malts.

mouth is fuller bod, a bit creamy and almost silky but not quite there, decent carb for an older beer but not great for carb either.

Overall not bad, but nothing too special. The barrel seems to have faded too much, but the acrid roast and burnt charaters would have been so strong fresh that the barrel probably would have been drowned out, so hard to tell which direction to go with this. I would like to try it fresh, as well as the other barrels to see the differences. The dark choc was nice, as well as vanilla barrel and whisky notes when they actually came through, but hard to get through the burnt acrid bitter tannic flavors. (2,361 characters)

Served from tap into a sampler tumbler. Poured a dark reddish-brown with a half finger off-white head that subsided to a very minimal amount quickly. There was no lacing evident throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, roasted malt, wood, sweet alcohol, and dark fruit. The flavor was of sweet malt, wood, dark fruit, and sweet alcohol. It had a medium feel on the palate with low carbonation. Overall this was a pretty decent brew. I saw this one on the beer list and couldn’t resist ordering one as I never knew that it had existed. The pour looked pretty typical for the style as was the flavor profile going on despite the barrel treatment. The aroma however was a little bit better with a nice kiss of dark fruit at the right points to enhance the other properties of this one. Definitely worth trying if you get the chance and are a fan of the base brew. Even if you aren’t I would still suggest it to a fan of the –bal. (952 characters)

Emelisse Stout has a black body with a thin brown head. OK retention, not much lacing going on.

Whiskey dominates the aroma, with a bit of anise and roasted malts.

This beer actually tastes like Jack Daniels, and whiskey is the dominant flavor. Even up front, the whiskey is powerful with a moderate amount of heat. Also present are charred malt and a bit of charred wood. Lots of roasted flavors and bittersweet chocolate make up the malt base, and are the strongest flavors after the whiskey. The background has some dark fruit and a bit of anise in it. Lots of stuff going on here, with a hot, boozy finish.

Hot, with a body that smooth, but a little bit lighter than I would expect for the ABV.

This is a fairly good barrel aged stout, but should not be tried unless you are a whiskey fan. Pretty hot also. (814 characters)

S: The first thing I pick up is a definite booze. There is a lot of roast and whiskey to this beer. A bit of dark fruits as well as a slight sourness of booze/whiskey. Mild chocolate notes with a decent amount of char.

T: Slight sourness of whiskey and booze up front. There's a bit of green apple followed by more booze and whiskey. There's some char and roast with a little bit of dark chocolate.

M: The body is medium with medium and smooth carbonation.

O: Jack Daniel's aged beers seem to have this same booze character to them that just makes them less pleasant to drink than other whiskey aged beers. (702 characters)